FaulknerBrowns team submits plans for £1.3bn Ladbroke Grove scheme
13/11/23
FaulknerBrowns with Maccreanor Lavington and Hutchinson & Partners has submitted plans for 2,500 homes, new parks and a Sainsbury's superstore on a canalside plot in Ladbroke Grove, west London
The application for the £1.3 billion neighbourhood proposal is backed by a joint venture between Ballymore and Sainsbury's, which currently has a store on the eastern edge of the plot.
The scheme was lodged following three years of consultation with the local community and stakeholders. It is expected to take 11 years to build out and also includes restoring the existing canal basin and creating a new high street with shops and workplaces.
The 7.7ha site, a former gasworks, is one of the largest remaining brownfield sites in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and most of it has been closed off to the public for over 40 years. The area between the Grand Union Canal to the north and railway tracks to the south has most recently been occupied by industrial uses, including a scrap metal processing facility and commercial storage. Th site is part of the Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area, identified in the Mayor's London Plan.
The site was previously owned by housing association Peabody, which submitted a planning application back in 2006 but later withdrew it. This application preceded the site designation as an opportunity area in the 2011 London Plan.
The masterplan has been drawn up by FaulknerBrowns Architect, which has also designed the individual buildings and residential blocks on plots 1, 5 and 6 (see below).
According to the team, the architectural approach takes its 'inspiration from local Regency and Victorian design, as well as its setting close to Kensal Green Cemetery, the Grand Union Canal and the wider area's rich cultural mix'.
Meanwhile, Maccreanor Lavington is overseeing plot 4, which includes 500 homes and a large public garden fronting the canal.
Hutchinson & Partners is leading on plot 2, which will house 950 homes, the new Sainsbury's, and commercial and community space.
The proposals also include two public parks and inclusive play spaces, designed by landscape architecture and design practice, Spacehub.
Ballymore group managing director John Mulryan said: 'The scale and location of the site – in one of London's 48 Opportunity Areas – presents a real opportunity to create a thoughtfully designed, accessible and sustainable canalside neighbourhood with strong transport links.'
FaulknerBrowns partner Ben Sykes said: 'Our design has been built around public spaces, including a restored canal basin, play spaces and adding gardens and groves to the borough, to create a series of smaller neighbourhoods with a rich mix of uses and a strong sense of personality and place.'
If approved, construction is set to start in phases in 2025. The first new homes are due to complete in 2030.
According to the team, as individual plots are brought forward for development, 'architects will be involved in the applications for reserved matters approval and the detailed design and delivery of the buildings'.
Site ownership and plots - FaulknerBrowns (plots 1, 5 and 6); Maccreanor Lavington (plot 4); Hutchinson and Partners (plot 2, including new Sainsbury's superstore)
Source; Architects Journal